


The Spin

by thislifeinanutshell



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 02:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7340959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thislifeinanutshell/pseuds/thislifeinanutshell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Link hates party games, especially the ones that force him to make out with his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Spin

“I'm not kissing another dude”, Link said firmly, crossing his arms and looking at the glass bottle on the floor as if it had personally offended him. Which, to be honest, it kind of had with choosing Rhett as the next person he had to kiss. So far he had clumsily made out with Becky and Susanna and he really hadn't mind. They were both cheerleaders and had probably appeared in many wet dreams of numerous boys at Harnett Central High. He wouldn't be able to score this high again, given that it was his last year in school and all the girls would go off to ivy league colleges to realize boys in North Carolina were generally idiots. Yes, himself included.

“Believe me, nobody wants to see you two kiss”, Mike said, lip curling up in disgust.

“Well you surely didn't mind when I had to kiss Rachel”, Leslie complained.

“That's different and you know it!”

“Different how?”

Link ignored the two fighting and side eyed Rhett, who was sitting a few places to his right and had so far stayed quiet on the matter. He was now staring into the distance, seemingly contemplating the beige color of the curtains in Andrew's living room.

“You say something!”, Link said, gesturing over to his best friend who flinched, awoke from his day dreams and then shrugged.

“If it's the rules...”

“You sayin' you wanna kiss me?”, Link asked and he could feel his voice slightly cracking in anger.

“I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that you spun the bottle.”

“So this is my fault?”

Rhett sighed loudly and a few people started giggling.

“Look at them, already fighting like a married couple”, Rachel laughed. Rhett and Link dropped the arising argument immediately, both trying not to blush.

Link just didn't want to embarrass himself in front of everybody, if he would make out with his best male friend he would never live it down until graduation. Everyone thought he was gay anyway, it would only make matters worse. If he was being honest with himself, out of all the guys who were currently sitting in the circle he would probably chose Rhett every time. Mike was a complete loser who smoked pot behind the bleachers because he thought it was edgy, Andrew and Josh were on the football team and brainless hunks and Jeffrey had a unibrow.

It wasn't like he found Rhett attractive, but really he was the most attractive option right then and maybe Link should have just laughed about it but he couldn't, it would change everything. He wouldn't be able to go swimming with Rhett anymore because it would be weird and he would need to stop staying the night at his house to watch horror movies because that would be weird, too.  
He probably should stop being his friend altogether because people might get the wrong idea and he really didn't want that. He wanted Rhett to be his best friend forever as cheesy as it sounded.

He came back to his senses as he realized Leslie and Mike were still fighting over the kiss and he noticed Rhett slowly crawling towards him.

“You want me to kiss this dude?”, Rhett asked, maybe a little too loudly but Link guessed he was going to make a show out of it. A few people in the room cheered, while some looked anything but happy but then Rhett leaned forward and Link forgot to think.

Rhett's teeth clashed against his and it hurt, he could feel his best friend's breath on his nose and his dry lips on his own and what was even happening? Somewhere in the room someone pretended to throw up and he was pretty sure Becky was whistling but then Rhett's head moved away without giving him any time to respond to the kiss.

Link blinked a few times, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

“Dude, I feel sorry for the people who have to kiss you”, he blurted out before thinking.

“You sayin' I'm a bad kisser?”

“Yeah.”

Everyone laughed, including Rhett who didn't seem to be too bothered by the comment. Link was still unable to comprehend, his brain mushy yet working at full speed, lips still feeling tingly.

His friend spun the bottle and made out with Rachel, who didn't complain about Rhett's kissing skills. After that there was beer and loud music and Link didn't think about the kiss because he was too busy flirting with Susanna and looking at her cleavage as discretely as possible.

 

A few hours after midnight, Link had lost all sense of time, Rhett pulled him outside to walk him home because that's what he did: Looking after his friend at a party and knowing when it was time to go home. Link was only feeling slightly tipsy after breathing in the fresh air for a few minutes and then he was quite happy walking with Rhett in the silence of rural North Carolina. They talked about university, soccer and how Rhett's guitar playing was coming along and it seemed fine. They were fine.

His house seemed perfectly dark and quiet as they stepped onto the front lawn, Link's mother probably fast asleep for hours.

Link turned to say good bye, though his friend looked like he had something on his mind.

“Do you honestly think I'm a bad kisser?”, Rhett asked and Link would have laughed but he really seemed to be serious.

“I don't know man. Your lips were kinda dry and you didn't give me much time to respond”, Link said after a while, feeling his face heating up.

“Oh, so you wanted to respond?”, Rhett asked.

“That's not what I mean, I'm just guessing I didn't get the whole _Rhett James McLaughlin Making Out Experience_ ”, he shrugged.

They stayed quiet for a while, unsure whether to take the conversation further or just call it a day and go to sleep.

“You want it now?”, Rhett asked and he leaned forward again but this time much slower so Link had time to meet him in the middle. His friend's lips weren't as dry and his breathing more calm, as if they had all the time in the world. Link worried about someone looking outside their window and seeing Rhett and Link, who had been weird kids to begin with, standing outside and making out, but then he remembered that it was dark and late and he started to move his lips in sync with Rhett's.

Link noticed stubble and how strange it was to be smaller than the person he was kissing. There was a scent he knew but wasn't too used to this close though it wasn't as weird as he had expected.

Their lips parted after a minute or so and Link let his hands that had somehow crept up on Rhett's shoulders drop to his sides.

“Better?”

“Ehm, I guess” was all Link could say because his brain really wasn't good at thinking tonight. Rhett looked pleased though, so that was a good thing.

“Wanna go to the river tomorrow?”, Rhett asked and Link smiled because that meant things weren't weird between them and they could still be friends even after kissing twice and even if he didn't really mind kissing his best friend after all. He nodded.

“Good, I'll pick you up at two, I'll see you then.”

Link nodded again, stupid speechless brain and Rhett waved and turned around to go. Link watched the lanky figure disappearing into the darkness, suddenly feeling very emotional for no apparent reason but the fact that he had a great friend.

“I appreciate our friendship, Rhett”, he called out and the other boy turned around and while Link could not see him clearly, he knew that he was probably rolling his eyes, but in a friendly way.

“I know, me too. Now go to bed.”

That's what Link did. He turned around and went inside, nearly breaking a lampshade while creeping up the stairs but still feeling content with the events of the night. He had kissed his best friend but nothing was different. They could go swimming and joke and talk about everything they had in mind. He knew they would always be best friends and that nothing would come between them. He very much liked that thought.

 


End file.
